This Metro Detroit writer is a Deadline Detroit contributor who reports on organized crime and runs The Gangster Report site.
By Scott Burnstein
Dan Hutchinson
Oct. 13, 1974 -- June 1, 2022
(Photo: Desmond & Sons Funeral Home)
The man accused of fatally shooting Oak Park jewelry store owner Dan "Hutch the Jeweler" Hutchinson last month in a contract murder changed attorneys at a pre-trial hearing.
Roy Larry, 44, has pleaded not guilty in a case that shocked Metro Detroit and sent reverberations across hip-hop and rap circles around the country. On Monday, Ann Arbor attorney Trovious Starr took over Larry's defense from a court-appointed counsel and had a second motion for Larry's bond denied by 45th District Court Judge Michelle Friedman Appell in a Zoom hearing.
The next motion hearing is Sept. 6. Larry is a resident of Detroit's far east side.
The 47-year old Hutchinsion died in a hail of bullets behind the wheel of his GMC Denali luxury SUV on June 3 as he pulled out of a parking spot at a pawn shop he had just purchased on Greenfield Road, down the street from his highly successful Hutch's Jewlery store.
Three sources tell Deadline Detroit that the murder might be tied to rumors floating around the streets of Southeast Michigan last winter that DEA and IRS agents were pressing local jewelry store owners, including Hutchinson, for information on narcotics traffickers laundering money through jewelry transactions.
Two additional sources speculate the murder may have something to do with Hutchinson's purchase of the pawn shop where he was killed.
Over three decades, Hutch's Jewelers became known for outfitting Detroit's rich and famous -- most prominently, the area's rappers and athletes -- in diamond-studded custom chains, rings, bracelets and pendants.
Rapper Rick Ross among buyers
Hutchinson's parents started the business at Northland Mall in 1990. More recently, out-of-state celebrities became dedicated customers at the Oak Park store and often showed off his pieces on social media. Miami rap star Rick Ross is a loyal patron.
Baby Tron of Ypsilanti, a member of the rap group ShittyBoyz, with a pendant he bought in May (Photo: Instagram)
Larry was arrested less than an hour after Hutchinson was pronounced dead at Providence Hospital in Southfield in the early afternoon hours of June 3. Oak Park police officers apprehended him near the slaying scene. Two days later, Larry was charged with first-degree murder and illegal firearm possession.
Police and prosecutors claim he's the only suspect. Multiple witnesses to Hutchinson's murder dispute this narrative and exclusively told Deadline Detroit last month that Larry wasn't the shooter. The shooter, they say, is a younger, lighter-skinned man who shot Hutchinson's from a bicycle.
One witness says they saw Larry inside a vehicle in the pawn shop parking lot at the time of Hutchinson's murder. Another says the man on the bicycle was run over while trying to flee and was taken to a hospital. It's unclear what his status is in the investigation.
The contract killing victim (Photo: Twitter)
Hutchinson’s killing was a "contract hit," per Oak Park police detectives at a May press conference. Authorities have yet to declare a motive.
According to court records in Ohio, Larry was arrested for a hand-to-hand crack-cocaine deal with an undercover officer in Richland County in 2008. He was found guilty at trial the next year and did two years in state prison. Larry is said to go by the nicknames "Mookie" and "Precious," according to sources and court filings.
Oak Park Police detectives and the DEA didn’t respond to calls for comment.
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